First time with chickens - home from the feed store today!

[tspataro]

Thanks all. Nervous about making it through the first night. The temp seems to be holding right around 95. Hope they’re all still with us in the morning!

 

[azygous]

Congratulations! Are your chicks all active and running around? Are there any that are standing still with eyes half closed? Any that are stretched out sleeping more than they are running around? Have you made sure they all know how to get a drink?

I picked up a couple of chicks from TSC on Wednesday that had come from the post office minutes before I got to the store. I got them home and they seemed to go into a sort of stress shock. The first two hours they got progressively more lethargic, not the least bit interested in their surroundings.

I got out the sugar and Nutri-drench and mixed up some sugar water. I then took a small syringe and dosed both chicks every hour with the warm sugar water mixed with a little Nutri-drench. By 9pm, they had not revived. Although I've been through this before, I was very worried they'd not survive the night.

Next morning, they were completely different chicks, lively, curious, and famished. They ate their fermented feed like little pigs, and ate all day long yesterday.

I can't stress enough that any chick that appears "droopy" should be treated immediately for shipping stress shock. It can show up right away, or delay for a day or two. The warm sugar water, like a glucose IV for a human victim of shock, can save a chick's life and save a new chick mom/pop heartbreak and grief.

 

[tspataro]

Thanks for this. That’s really helpful. One of the Ameraucanas seems a little more sluggish than the other 5 but she made it through the night. Everyone did!

I’ll keep an eye on her today and administer some sugar water if necessary.

Overall they seem happy and curious. They’re eating and drinking.

Congratulations! Are your chicks all active and running around? Are there any that are standing still with eyes half closed? Any that are stretched out sleeping more than they are running around? Have you made sure they all know how to get a drink?

I picked up a couple of chicks from TSC on Wednesday that had come from the post office minutes before I got to the store. I got them home and they seemed to go into a sort of stress shock. The first two hours they got progressively more lethargic, not the least bit interested in their surroundings.

I got out the sugar and Nutri-drench and mixed up some sugar water. I then took a small syringe and dosed both chicks every hour with the warm sugar water mixed with a little Nutri-drench. By 9pm, they had not revived. Although I've been through this before, I was very worried they'd not survive the night.

Next morning, they were completely different chicks, lively, curious, and famished. They ate their fermented feed like little pigs, and ate all day long yesterday.

I can't stress enough that any chick that appears "droopy" should be treated immediately for shipping stress shock. It can show up right away, or delay for a day or two. The warm sugar water, like a glucose IV for a human victim of shock, can save a chick's life and save a new chick mom/pop heartbreak and grief.

 

[aart]

I then took a small syringe and dosed both chicks every hour

Be very careful using a syringe, they can aspirate the liquid.
I prefer to use a soaked qtip held against side of beak so liquid enters mouth more slowly. Make sure they are swallowing, stroking under beak and at front neck can help stimulate swallowing.

The temp seems to be holding right around 95

They need a cooler place too.

Here's my notes on chick heat, hope something in there might help:
They need to be pretty warm(~85-90F on the brooder floor right under the lamp and 10-20 degrees cooler at the other end of brooder) for the first day or two, especially if they have been shipped, until they get to eating, drinking and moving around well. But after that it's best to keep them as cool as possible for optimal feather growth and quicker acclimation to outside temps. A lot of chick illnesses are attributed to too warm of a brooder. I do think it's a good idea to use a thermometer on the floor of the brooder to check the temps, especially when new at brooding, later I still use it but more out of curiosity than need.

The best indicator of heat levels is to watch their behavior:
-If they are huddled/piled up right under the lamp and cheeping very loudly, they are too cold.
-If they are spread out on the absolute edges of the brooder as far from the lamp as possible, panting and/or cheeping very loudly, they are too hot.
-If they sleep around the edge of the lamp calmly just next to each other and spend time running all around the brooder they are juuuust right!

The lamp is best at one end of the brooder with food/water at the other cooler end of the brooder, so they can get away from the heat or be under it as needed. Wattage of 'heat' bulb depends on size of brooder and ambient temperature of room brooder is in. Regular incandescent bulbs can be used, you might not need a 'heat bulb'. If you do use a heat bulb make sure it's specifically for poultry, some heat bulbs for food have teflon coatings that can kill birds. You can get red colored incandescent bulbs at a reptile supply source. A dimmer extension cord is an excellent way to adjust the output of the bulb to change the heat without changing the height of the lamp.


Or you could go with a heat plate, commercially made or DIY: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pseudo-brooder-heater-plate

 

[MelissaRose]

Welcome to BYC! Cute chicks, did you buy females or are they straight run? If they are you may end up with some roos.
Good luck raising your flock!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Hi @tspataro and welcome to BYC! Happy to have you join us on the roost. This is the best to learn and share all about feathered friends. Those darling wee chickies will soon be twice that size and resemble dinosaurs, then there is the "endearing" pig-stage where they come up with amazing ways to poop in their food and water. If you haven't done so already, plan on making a bigger brooder soon and get your coop constructed. Good luck with your new family.

 

[azygous]

Here's how to safely syringe fluids into a baby chick. The fluids must be tepid to warm. Draw .1ml into the syringe. For a chick, I use a syringe that is pencil thin.

Holding the chick against your chest, take finger and thumb of your hand holding the chick and come at the beak from the back of the chick's head. The little beak may seem locked down tight, but you can carefully pry open the beak.

The chick's esophagus (food and water intake) is on the right side of the throat. By carefully administering a drop at a time into the right side of the beak, it will be deposited just in front of the "food chute." Only a few drops are necessary and gives the chick time to swallow each drop before you squeeze another drop in.

Unless you squirt a huge amount of water forcefully into the front of a chick's beak, the fluid will not go down the airway which is located in the center of the throat.

 

[tspataro]

Welcome to BYC! Cute chicks, did you buy females or are they straight run? If they are you may end up with some roos.
Good luck raising your flock!

They’re supposed to be all females!

 

[aart]

The chick's esophagus (food and water intake) is on the right side of the throat.

Hers some more info with good pics:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[Abriana]

Such cuties!
Also you might want to move them to a bigger brooder... my family kept our eight in a bin like that in the beginning, but they started fighting and pecking at each other because they didn't have enough room. We used cardboard boxes for the rest of their chickhood!